The World Bank has made available additional financing in the amount of US$ 5.0 million to support the implementation of the Teacher Education Strategy through the Quality Improvement Fund (QIF). A total of US$ 4.2 million will be dedicated to implement one additional QIF cycle to support tertiary education institutions (TEIs) innovation programs and to build the capacity of the college of education faculty members involved in developing and teaching the core areas of pre-service teacher education programs (i.e. Mathematics Education, Science Education, Technology Education, Social Science, Language Arts [reading, writing, speaking], Foundation Disciplines [Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology of Education], Practice Teaching, Classroom Teacher [for Grades 1-4], and Physical Education). It is envisaged that Assessment and Evaluation techniques and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in pre-service teacher education programs will be included, as appropriate, in each curricular area.

Objectives

The TEIs will be invited to compete as clusters, where each eligible university or university college builds local and international partnerships with other universities or university colleges in order to prepare innovative proposals directly related to: (a) two or more of the core areas of the teacher education curriculum as specified in the foregoing introduction; (b) the teaching of those areas to student teachers; (c) and the upgrading of their teacher education programs in line with the recommendations of the Teacher Education Strategy. It is envisaged that each selected cluster will provide the venue (s) for and work with a selected international consultant institution in the planning and delivery of intensive professional development courses in their chosen areas of expertise to all teacher education lecturers involved in those areas. This cycle will concentrate on:

2. Improving the existing Bachelor of Arts in Education Programs for teachers as per the recommendations of the Teacher Education Strategy.

3. Enhancing existing Master of Arts in Education programs so that they meet the conditions specified in section 2.3 of the Teacher Education Strategy for the preparation of teachers.

Characteristics of the Cycle

1. The proposed project should be implemented in two interdependent phases as follows:

A. The first phase is concerned with human resource development and focuses on the professional development of faculty involved in core curricular areas of teacher education programs as outlined in sections 2.32, 2.33, and 2.34 of the Teacher Education Strategy. The aim is to introduce faculty members to good international practice in the preparation of teachers, to extend their pedagogical knowledge, and in particular to develop their skills in the teaching and professional development of the trainee teachers.

For this phase the focus of the projects’ proposals is on the formation of local institutional clusters (comprising at least two TEIs) with established expertise in at least two areas of the pre-service teacher education curriculum. In partnership with a selected international consultant institution, each cluster will design and deliver intensive, up-to-date, capacity building courses in their chosen subject areas to all Palestinian teacher education faculty who specialize in those areas.

B. The second phase concentrates on establishing or improving teacher education programs in the three areas mentioned in the objectives section above. It is expected that this reform process will run in tandem with and draw on the information being provided in the capacity building programs.

2. The implementation plan for the proposed projects should be made flexible enough to accommodate any specific improvements to the teacher education programs or developments of the teacher education faculty members as a result of issuing the National Professional Standards for Teachers which is expected on May 1, 2010 by the Commission for Developing the Teaching Profession (CDTP).

3. While the purpose of the QIF is to encourage and support innovation, what is envisaged in the present cycle is innovation directly related to the core areas of teacher education and closely aligned with the recommendations of the Teacher Education Strategy.

4. TEIs can develop the human and physical resources at the respective institutions if the development is closely coupled to the development of specific programs.

a. Human resource development includes activities for faculty development and the enhancement of continuous professional development of faculty in teacher education programs.

b. Physical resource development includes the development of facilities (libraries, labs, etc) to improve teachers’ skills.

5. Research, cooperation and the exchange of experience between workers in the field of teacher education are called for by the Teacher Education Strategy. Consequently, research and development activities related to teacher education program evaluation and development are encouraged.

6. Partnerships with both local and qualified international consultants/institutions are mandatory. For an international institution to be an eligible partner, it should have longstanding and reputable programs in teacher education, along with extensive knowledge of policy, practice and research relating to the continuum of pre-service, in-service, and continuing professional development of teachers.

7. The international consultant/institution should be selected according to the World Bank Guidelines for the Selection and Employment of Consultants by Bank Borrowers. To guarantee that only highly reputable institutions are selected and to simplify the process of locating them, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education will issue a one request for expressions of interest on behalf of all universities/colleges specifying the core areas of pre-service teacher education programs as well as the proposed strategy to develop the faculty involved in the core curricular areas and reform the teaching education programs. The international institutions will be requested to specify the core area(s) in which they are interested, including information on their experience and competence relevant to the assignment. The qualifications of the international institutions expressing interest will be evaluated by a committee representing the TEIs and a short list of qualified institutions for each core area will be produced. The MOEHE will then share the short lists of qualified candidates and their information with the local institutions. The local institutions will request the best qualified international institution in their core area to submit a technical and financial proposal and negotiate a contract to be signed once the local institution is awarded a grant under QIF.

8. The funding ceiling per approved project is $400,000 if involving two partners (one local and one international consultant/institution) in addition to the project leader or $600,000 if involving two or more local partners in addition to the international consultant/institution and the project leader.

9. The practice teaching component for the BA degrees in Education with a major in Lower Basic Level (grades 1-4) will not be supported under this cycle.

10.As per section VI-B of the operations manual, the QIF board has the right to approve any proposal at the funding level requested or at a level not requested, recommends provisional approval given minor revisions, or rejects the proposed projects.

11.The type of partnership and the roles and responsibilities of each partner should be clearly defined and annexed to the proposal.

12.The duration of implementation of projects under this cycle shall be about 26 months and shall be well detailed in the submitted proposals and implementation plans and as approved by the QIF Board.

13.Each Tertiary Education Institution can submit one or more projects proposals as a leader and could be a partner in other projects.

Awarded Projects under the Teacher Education Cycle:

#

TEI

Project Name

Date of Signing the GIA

QIF Grant Value

The International Consultant

Birzeit University

Pre- Service Science Teacher Education Project

November 21st, 2010

599,284.00

Institute of Education/University of London - UK

Al-Azhar University- Gaza

A National Teacher Development Center (NTDC)

November 10th, 2010

520,000.00

The Center For International Education- The University of Massachusetts-USA